The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-11-07
THE G0RDlAN KNOT.
IMMIGRATION VERSUS LAND,

EDITOR BULLETIN: 49, Well may
you say, in the last issue of your
valuable paper, that of all the ques-
tions which call for public study,
that of immigration is for this coun-
try the most serious and urgent,
that is to say, not the importation of
simple laborers, but the immigration
which will bring us settlers and per-
manent population.
AS already wrote several years
ago, the strongest fact in the politi-
cal economy of this land, which APP
peared to all dsinterested and well
balanced minds as the odious night
mare of demented spendthrift, was
that since so many years that immi-
grants had been brought to these
shores. it had always been in view
of labor, not of population. And it
is certainly now a subject of the
deepest regret, to any lover of the
country, that so much money should
have been expended, nay, squander-
ed time after time to bring .laborers
with so little results on the popula-
ton.
But what seems mysterious and
suicidal policy to outsiders, is easily
accounted for when one reflects that
up to the present time, tho immi
grafton question has exclusively
been inspired for and by the plant
ers. Now it is an undeniable fact
that unfortunately too many plant
ers have, in the past, been guided
only by hand-to-mouth policy,by
narrow view of labor for their i'm
mediate wants, not for their future
ones, and their excuse is that they
avowedly came to these Islands to
make money as quickly as possible
with the intention of leaving as soon
again. Therefore the future of the
country and of its population was
the least of their cares.
Gradually, however, the planters
have learned by experience, that it
was not so easy to make money and
rush away; they gradually admit
ted for themselves the idea of a per-
manent stay; and now majority of
them are getting so identified with
the country, that they have found
out that the future of the nation is
intimately connected with the
future of the plantations.
The first move in the right drec-
ton was to ask that the immigrant
laborers brought here should come
only kwiIh a family, which, it was
thought would induce the immi-
grants to settle here.
But this otherwise rational policy
was deficient in its basis. 1t was
overlooked that it was indispensable
to offer the immigrants proper in
ducements to make them stay per-
manently.
The result of the mistake has now
been seen with the Portuguese,
most desirable element, so many of
which, as soon as their contracts
are ended, leave the country with
the families which have cost Gov
eminent and planters so much to
bring here, and they leave only be-
cause they are unable to kbecome
settlers.
The question therefore now lies
before the present Legislature near
ly at the same point as it did in
1876. The planters want laborers,
but the country at large, the whole
of us who constitute the people, we
want more population, more small
farmers, more producers and con-
sumers.
1t is furthermore felt that the
ruinous policy of throwing away
immense sums for bringing here
men and women who will leave us
as soon as free to do it, cannot be
continued any longer, even if some
planters were willing to waste away
their money in that way.
No one will contradict me there
fore, when I say the question to be
resolved by the present Parliament,
and the most vital one of all those
submitted to the wisdom of our po-
litical men, is.the following:
''How to bring here population
who will furnish the required lab
orers, and yet prove to be bonafide
settlers in the midst of our fast de-
creasing population?"
This can be obtained by tue Gov
eminent and only by them. If the
planters want exclusively labor, they
must send for it themselves, without
Government interference, whilst the
Administration must devote all its
efforts towards population.
We, the people, we want popula-
tien, not transient human tools,
and the new Government, issued
from the people, must attend imme-
diately to this, remembering that
as no man brought here will stay,
unless some solid advantages are
given to him-the question of what
these inducements can be must be
settled at once.
Land is the only positively at
tractive one, and the Government.
if they honestly want to solve our
population problem, must prepare
to give q small homestead LOT TO